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CGEHHGET DEPOSm 



UPON 
THIS ROCK 



TALKS WITH YOUNG CHRISTIANS 



BY 

CHARLES P. WILES, D^D, 




PHILADELPHIA 

THE LUTHERAN PUBLICATION 

SOCIETY 



Copyright, 1918, by 
THE LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY 



APR 26 1918 



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CONTENTS 

PACK 

I. In the Days of Thy Youth 5 

II. Search the Scriptures 9 

III. When Thou Prayest , 13 

IV. Upon This Rock 17 

V. In Remembrance of Me 21 

VI. Know Them Which Labor Among 

You 25 

VII. Remember the Sabbath Day 29 

VIII. To Every Man His Work 33 

IX. As for Me and My House 37 

X. Ye Shall Be Witnesses of Me 41 

XL A Cheerful Giver 45 

XII. Lo, I Am With You Always 49 



UPON THIS ROCK 




HOSE of us who have come to J 
years of maturity remember /# 
the day of our confirmation ™E 

DAYS 

with very tender feelings. It qp 
was a happy, holy day; and its THY 
happiness and holiness abide with us still. 
If the great step is taken with simple faith 
in Jesus and with an earnest desire to serve 
Him, the day will never come when one 
regrets what he has done. Many a per- 
son looks back to that moment as al- 
together the happiest one in his life. 
Union with the Church means that we take 
Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour, accept 
the Bible as our rule of faith and practice, 
and that we dedicate our lives and our all 
to Christ and His Church. 

Confirmation is not to be thought of 
as the act of a day or a year, but of a 
lifetime. It is not the beginning and 



UPON neither is it the end of our Christian life. 
P*{?, It continues the good work begun in us at 

ROCK . * . 6 

baptism, when we were received into the 
covenant of divine grace. In it we sol- 
emnly pledge our loyalty and love to 
Christ as long as He gives us breath. The 
act can mean nothing less than that if it 
means anything. Its fragrance should 
sweeten all our days. Whatever of life 
and service we can lay at the feet of our 
Lord is as nothing in comparison with 
what He has given to us. 

The Church looks with high hopes upon 
you. You are young. Your energies are 
unimpaired. You stand where your shadow 
falls far toward the west. Y^our great 
choices are yet to be made, and your life is 
just beginning to be formed. You are 
strong and aspire to make your years 
count. God alone knows the measure of 
good you will accomplish if you invest all 
your gifts in His service. Your destiny 
is in your own hands. Others may 



influence you, but what you are going to in 
be you must determine. Having begun f^iL 
the race, run as one who would win the of 
crown. There look down upon you a host 
of witnesses who will rejoice in every vic- 
tory you win. Be strong and of good 
courage. 



THY 
YOUTH 



TF a pile of books were placed before you // 

and you were told to choose one for SEARCH 
a life companion, which would it be? The SCRIPm 
world is filled with books, and many of TURES 
them are good and useful ones, but the 
best among them is the Bible. We may 
know all that other volumes contain and 
remain in ignorance, but if we know the 
Bible we are well educated. 

The Bible was written for you and me. 
Its message is a personal one. The truths 
are as fresh as though spoken yesterday. 
To get the impression it was written for 
people of other centuries is to rob it of its 
value and meaning to us. Luther said the 
message of the Bible is found in its per- 
sonal pronouns. Its word of instruction, 
of strength, of pardon, of hope, of com- 
fort, of life, was intended for you and me 
as well as for Peter, John, Paul and the 
rest of the saints. We should cultivate the 
feeling while reading its sacred pages that 
God is speaking to our own hearts. The 



9 



UPON Bible is more than history, it is food for 
the soul. 



ROCK 



The Bible is the Christian's book. He 
can no more get along without it than the 
physician without his books on medicine, 
or the attorney without his books on law. 
Other volumes instruct, please, entertain, 
but the Bible does more; it inspires, illu- 
mines, cleanses, changes character, saves. 
When we read it God speaks, we come 
face to face with Him, His breath is upon 
our cheeks, we think His thoughts after 
Him, and we feel the thrill of the life 
more abundant. 

Own your own Bible. Keep it in a con- 
venient place. Have stated times for read- 
ing it. Mark the passages that impress 
and feed you. Carry some word or 
thought with you. The largest gain comes 
through reading it thoughtfully, devoutly, 
prayerfully, trustingly, obediently. If we 
would grow and become strong Christians, 
we must read the Scriptures. The true 

10 



child of God will love the Bible, for in it SEARCH 
his Father speaks to him. And more, he i™L 
will depend on the gracious teaching and TURES 
help of the Holy Spirit, through whose 
instruction the word of God came into 
existence. Lift up your hearts to Him as 
you scan the sacred page and you shall 
know the truth that is able to make wise 
unto salvation. 



11 



THOU 
PRAYEST 



T ESUS was a man of prayer. He prayed /// 

often. Sometimes His prayers were WHEN 
long, and sometimes very short. Occa- 
sionally He spent a whole night in prayer. 
Now and then He would rise very early 
in the morning while His disciples were 
sleeping and goi out to some quiet place and 
pray. He needed the strength that comes 
through communion with His Father. He 
taught us to pray both by example and 
precept. 

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath. 
To cease to pray is to cease to live. To 
pray well is to work well and live well. If 
we have a friend we like to speak with 
him. Christ is our friend. When we read 
the Bible He speaks to us. When we 
pray we speak to Him. Through prayer 
we thank Him for all the good things re- 
ceived, and tell Him of our needs. Luther 
spent rr^uch time in prayer, especially if he 
had a hard day's work ahead of him. 
From Abraham on down the ages, the 



13 



UPON 

THIS 

ROCK 



men and women who have been examples 
of piety and have carried the burden of 
the world's work knew how to pray. At 
times they forgot to eat and sleep, but 
they failed not to commune with God. 

God is our Father, we are His children. 
Prayer springs naturally out of our rela- 
tionship with Him. If our heart is right 
we will want to talk with Him. If you 
do not enjoy prayer, something is wrong. 
Locate the trouble and remove it. Keep 
your prayers from degenerating into empty 
forms and meaningless repetitions. Let 
no day go by without its quiet talk with 
God. 

Pray for yourself. It will make your 
soul strong and beautiful. Pray for the 
members of your household. It will pro- 
mote goodwill and family affection. Pray 
for your church that it may flourish and 
serve all God's purposes. Pray for your 
enemies, that they may be set the example 
of a true Christian life. Pray for your 



14 



country and the world, that Christ may WHEN 
everywhere be enthroned. Remember that prayest 
"more things are wrought by prayer than 
this world dreams of." How safe we are 
if we make prayer the key of the morning 
and the bolt of the evening! We may be 
sure of bringing all our works to a good 
conclusion if we begin them in communion 

with the Infinite. 

15 



Y 



OU and I owe more to the Church IV 
than we can ever tell. She is our UPON 
spiritual mother. From our earliest in- ROCK 
fancy her blessings have been raining upon 
our lives. She has made it easier for us 
to do right and harder for us to do wrong. 
She has pointed us to the Lamb of God 
and kept us true when otherwise we would 
have been false. We have been baptized 
and confirmed at her altars, and within her 
sacred walls we have been fed on the 
bread from heaven. 

The Church is a divine institution. She 
has sprung from the heart of God. She 
is the product of His infinite love and 
grace. His power has made her what she 
is. Were He to withdraw from her she 
would fall to pieces like a house of leaves. 
Jesus calls the Church His Church. She 
had her origin in the eternal purpose of 
our Lord. 

The Church is holy. She is holy be- 
cause Christ her Lord is holy; because the 



17 



UPON blessed Spirit who dwells in her is holy; 

THIS 

ROCK because she is called with a holy calling; 
because her members are clothed upon 
with the holiness of Christ, and because 
they are striving after holiness of heart 
and life. The Church is the purest, holiest, 
most Christlike institution on the face of 
the earth. 

The Church is one. There may be 
many denominations, but there is only one 
Church, as there are many branches in one 
tree. Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will 
build," not my churches, but "my Church.' 1 
We are not to think the Church of the liv- 
ing God is confined to our denomination. 
She is made up of believing people every- 
where. 

The Church is indestructible. The gates 
of hell shall not prevail against her. You 
and I may fail in our Christian life, but 
the Church shall not fail. God is in her. 
She has come through storm and fire and 
blood, and is the most powerful force in 



18 



the world to-day for righteousness. UPON 

The Church, then, is worthy of our un- R0CK 
swerving interest and unfailing love and 
unstinted support. When we speak of the 
Church we do not mean a building of 
w T ood and stone, but people, God's re- 
deemed people. It is in the Church that 
the Word of God is preached and the 
sacraments administered. It is not suffi- 
cient that your nam^e is on her record. 
You are to be one of her living members. 
He who neglects the Church will soon be 
lean of soul. He who despises her de- 
spises her Lord. Speak well of your 
Church, attend regularly her services, 
pray for her, reverence her courts and ex- 
alt her name. 

19 



w 



E are so prone to forget the very V 



things we should remember. Jesus IN 

1-1 i j rpi REMEM- 

knows this better than we do. Ine one FRANCE 
fact in the New Testament emphasized OF 

ME 

more than any other is His death. And 
lest it should slip from our memory He 
instituted, only a few hours before He 
died, the Lord's Supper, saying, "This do 
in remembrance of me." Each time His 
table is spread before our eyes we are re- 
minded that His body was broken and His 
blood shed for us. It makes His suf- 
ferings real and keeps His atoning work 
fresh in our minds. 

But that is by no means all. This sacra- 
ment speaks of His great love for us. 
The cross has no meaning unless we see 
in it the unspeakable love of the Father 
and of His Son Jesus Christ. A young 
girl once asked her mother, who had a 
withered hand, how it came to be de- 
formed. "When you were a helpless 
babe," replied the mother, "your crib 



21 



UPON 

THIS 

ROCK 



caught fire, and in attempting to save you 
I was burned. It was for you this poor 
hand suffered." The daughter was per- 
suaded without another word that her 
mother loved her. Would you know why 
our dear Lord bears those scars in His 
body? They are love-scars. I can never 
lift the bread and cup of the sacrament 
to my lips without reading anew the won- 
drous story of His love for me. 

In this sacred feast He feeds us. We 
receive more than bread and wine. 
Through these elements He feeds us with 
His glorified body and blood. He Him- 
self, is present at the feast. He nourishes 
our souls. He imparts Himself to us. 
How sacred the privilege ! How solemn 
the hour ! But you say you are not fit to 
come. That is true of all of us. Our 
fitness is to feel our need of Him. He 
may come who loves and trusts his Lord. 

The observance of the Holy Com- 
munion is one of the most sacred and 






22 



solemn acts of Christian worship. IN 
Through it our sins are forgiven and our ^r^CS 
spiritual life nourished. If we truly love OF 
Him we will not neglect this feast wherein 
He fits us for life here and life above. 

23 



'TpHAT is, you are to know your pas- VI 

tor. But you reply that you do KNOW 
know him. Have you not heard him ™Jj$!L 

WHICH 

preach? Has he not been in your home? LABOR 
Have you not met him on the streets? ^?r NG 
But you are to know him more intimately 
than that. You are to know him as your 
minister and teacher, as your friend and 
spiritual guide, as a Christian man and 
a pattern for you in all holy living. You 
are to know him as God's ambassador, set 
over you by the Holy Ghost. Try also to 
know something of his joys and sorrows, 
of his victories and struggles, of his cares 
and burdens, and of his deep yearning for 
souls. He is a minister of Christ, and 
therefore, he sustains to you and you to 
him a very vital relationship. 

Think of your pastor as your friend, for 
that he is. He is interested in you, in your 
home, in your work, in your plans and am- 
bitions. But more, he is interested in your 
soul's welfare. Pray for him. If you do 



UPON that you will not find fault with him and 

THIS 

ROCK binder his work. Your prayer is one of 
the arms by which he is sustained in his 
arduous labor. Speak well of him. Pub- 
lish his good name abroad. If you want 
to break his heart and undo his work all 
you need do is to go about saying unkind 
things of him. 

As a member of the Church you will 
want to stand nobly by him in his efforts 
to advance the cause of Christ. Be present 
when he preaches the gospel. His suc- 
cess will be turned to miserable failure if 
he must preach to empty pews. The work 
he is to do in the community he must do 
through you and others like you. What 
he preaches on Sunday you must live 
through the week. It will encourage him 
if he receives a word of appreciation from 
you now and then. He is human. He 
yearns to lean on you and to count upon 
you as a trusted friend and helper. His 
work must forever fail if God's people do 



26 



not stand loyally by him. Your sympa- KNOW 

thetic interest and hearty co-operation will whiqh 

make your pastor's sermons powerful, and LABOR 

his life more powerful still. "Obey them Y ou 

that have the rule over you, for they 

watch for your souls." 

27 



A CHRISTIAN is known by the way VII 

he keeps Sunday. Six days for REMEM- 
work and one for rest and worship is T „„ 
God's order, and it cannot be improved SABBATH 
upon. The person who cannot gain an 
education or make a living in six days a 
week cannot do it in seven. The man w T ho 
follows God's plan by keeping the Sabbath 
day holy finds his life richly blessed, while 
those who greedily seize all seven days for 
their physical and mental improvement, 
neglecting the soul's needs, lose out in the 
long run. 

Sunday is the Lord's day. He gave it 
to us for our good. It is therefore the 
soul's day. It is the day of all the week 
the best. Its return brings a song of joy 
to millions of hearts. If it were taken 
from us we would be robbed of one of 
our choicest blessings. Upon its faithful 
observance depends the future welfare of 
our glorious country. If we willfully dese- 
crate the Sabbath, we grieve our Lord 

29 



UPON and Saviour and strike a blow at every in- 

THIS 

ROCK st i tu ti° n we hold dear. Would you be a 
friend of the home, a useful member of 
the Church, a blessing to the community, 
a patriotic citizen? Then keep the Lord's 
day holy. 

It is not sufficient that we do no work 
on Sunday. That is only half of our obli- 
gation. It is expected of us that we join 
other worshipers in God's house. It is 
important that we hear the Gospel 
preached. He only has kept the day holy 
w r ho gives attention to the Word of God 
and prayer. I cannot see how we are to 
meet temptations successfully and exert 
an influence for good if we absent our- 
selves from the services of the sanctuary. 
It was Christ's custom to attend worship 
in the synagogue and the temple. 

That Sunday is well spent which is 
passed in God's house, and in doing good 
and showing mercy. It is the day the Lord 
has made, the soul's parlor day. It tells 



30 



DAY 



us that Christ is risen, calls us to worship, REMEM- 
and points us to the land where Sabbaths THE 
have no end. If Sunday is observed as SABBATH 
our Master intends it should be, all the 
other days of the week will be sanctified. 
You cannot raise the first link in a chain 
without raising the other links as well. 
Neither can we keep the first day of the 
week holy without giving a touch of holi- 
ness to all other days. 

31 



I 



T may be that most of your life is spent VIII 
within four narrow walls. Your name TO 
is not known far from home. You may MAN 
never make a great stir in your community. HIS 
This is apt to discourage you, especially 
when you see others doing big things and 
receiving much attention. You are prone 
to think that there is nothing for you to 
do and that life is hardly worth living. 

But your Lord does not think that way 
about you. He has something for you to 
do. You may never write a poem, or 
paint a picture, or hold a high office, or 
amass a fortune, or preach the gospel, 
nevertheless there is a place, a very dis- 
tinct place, in God's world-plan for you. 
The work you call little, He may call big. 
What you look upon as unimportant, He 
may regard as very important. Nothing 
is insignificant or to be despised that con- 
tributes in any way toward making this a 
better world. Our Saviour did many 
things that never got into print or came to 



33 



UPON the attention of the crowd, but even so, 

ROCK ^ e was not a ^ ove doing them. For thirty 
years He lived quietly at Nazareth and 
was scarcely known outside His own vil- 
lage. And He was just as faithful there 
as He was during the three years of Hu 
public life and ministry. It is not so much 
a question of doing big or little things as 
it is of being faithful. We are not ex 
pected to be a Paul or a John or a Luther, 
but ourselves only, and to stand in oui 
place and do our work until the end oi 
our days. 

There is no telling what the Christian 
Church could do if all those members who 
have hidden their talents would bring 
them forth and put them to work for the 
Lord. We used to say that we expect 
every man to do his bit. Now we are 
saying that we expect every man to do his 
best. Only with our best is God satisfied 
We have a w r ork, a God-given work to do. 
No one else can do it for us. If we fail, 



34 






it will remain undone. There is some lit- TO 

tie corner of our community that will re- MAN 

main dark unless our light shines full and HIS 

strong. Some soul somewhere will go 

down into the grave ignorant of the Lord 

Jesus if we are silent when we ought to 

speak, and try to be neutral when it is 

clearly our duty to confess Christ before 

men. 

as 



nr^HE psalmist said, "I will walk with- IX 

in my house with a perfect heart." AS FOR 
And long before his day the Jewish leader My 
confessed the faith of his family by say- HOUSE 
ing, "As for me and my house we will 
serve the Lord." It is very easy to be a 
Christian in the church. It is easy to be a 
Christian in the crowd. In office, shop 
and market we can be loyal to Christ. 
But the real test of our Christianity is in 
the family. What are we there? How 
do we speak to our parents, our children, 
our brothers and our sisters? If we are 
not loyal to our Master in the home, we 
cannot be loyal to Him anywhere. What 
we are at heart is best seen in our own 
house and by the members of our own 
family. 

We should not be satisfied to put on 
our religion when we go abroad. Our 
lives must be governed by the same stand- 
ards when within our family circle. As a 
rule we spend much time at home, and if. 



37 



UPON we are not happy there the whole day will 
ROCK ^ e miserable. The home may be one of 
poverty; trials and privations may be 
many, but if loyalty and love are found 
there it will be a place overflowing with 
joy. Perhaps if discord and contention 
prevail, it is because we have been thought- 
less in speech and action. When we are 
out in public we are careful what we say 
and how we conduct ourselves, but when 
we enter our own door we neglect those 
little attentions and courtesies which give 
home a touch of heaven. If our family 
life is to be rich and joyous and worth 
while, each member must be gentle, un- 
selfish and affectionate. 

There is one thing further. A home 
reaches its best when each person in it is 
a Christian. A home in which the blessed 
Lord dwells is the mightiest force in the 
world. A home without the divine pres- 
ence is like a house without light. The 
first thing Andrew did when he found the 



38 



Messiah was to go and get his brother AS FOR 
Simon and bring him. The best thing vly 
we can do is to make ours a Christian HOUSE 
home, to erect there the family altar, and 
to see to it that at least part of the con- 
versation is about the Church and the 
progress of the kingdom of God. Close 
and bar the door against everything that 
keeps your Saviour away. Impress upon 
your own heart the importance of walk- 
ing within your house with a perfect heart. 

39 



\\T HEN Jesus left the world and went X 
back to heaven He entrusted the ye 
work which He had begun to the few s Jj? LL 

BE 

disciples whom He had gathered about wit- 
Him. When their earthly labors were ^? s £^ s 

m t J OF ME 

ended the responsibility fell on the shoul- 
ders of their successors. And so the un- 
finished task of evangelizing the world has 
been handed down from generation to gen- 
eration. One-third of the world is Chris- 
tian; one-third has heard of Christ but has 
not yet accepted Him; and the other third 
has never heard that such a person as 
Jesus ever lived and died for its salvation. 
One reason why our Lord does not take 
a person to heaven as soon as he becomes 
a Christian is because He has something 
for him to do here. So far as we know 
He has no way of saving the world except 
through us. He has made no other ar- 
rangements. It is through the words we 
speak and the lives we live that new con- 
verts are made and the Redeemer's king- 



41 



UPON dom extended a little further. The work 

THIS 

ROCK cannot a ^ be done by ministers and mis- 
sionaries. You and I are in the Church 
to-day because others were interested 
enough in us to lead us in the right way. 
If we are saved it is our business to help to 
save others. There is something we can 
do or say, no matter how limited our 
talents, that will cause the person who is 
looking at us to think more seriously of 
being a Christian. 

It is so easy for us to get lost in the 
crowd and to feel that our feeble little 
efforts do not count for anything. But we 
are just as responsible, to the extent of 
our ability, for giving the good news of 
salvation to all mankind as any other per- 
son. We are Christ's witnesses, and the 
Gospel will not soon be carried to every 
creature unless we do our share. It is 
possible for us to make our influence reach 
around the world. 

Every believer should be deeply imbued 



42 



with the missionary spirit. It is Christ's YE 
will that it should be so. He died to save BE 
all men. No one is too humble or poor to wit- 
help, for while he may have little to give, OF 
he can still pray and work for the spread ME 
of the Gospel. If we are interested we 
will find some way to advance the cause. 
It is a great joy to be co-laborers with 
Christ in the salvation of a lost world. 

43 






3 J 

■J > 



A 



LL that we have and are belongs to XI 



Christ. And just as He requires of A 
us one-seventh of our time, so does He „ UL 
also ask of us a reasonable portion of our GIVER 
money. That Christian is not living up 
to his privilege who does not contribute 
regularly and systematically to the Lord's 
work. The Church of Christ would soon 
perish from the earth were it not for the 
gifts of her faithful members. 

The poorest of us have something to 
give. A laundress with a family to sup- 
port responded to an appeal from her 
pastor with a pledge of five dollars. At 
the close of the service, a gentleman, 
knowing her circumstances, approached 
her and offered to pay her pledge for her. 
She replied by saying, "Please do not deny 
me the joy of giving to my church." It 
is not expected of us that we shall all con- 
tribute the same amount, though it is ex- 
pected that all of us contribute something. 
Christ does not ask us to do the impos- 



45 



THIS 
ROCK 



UPON sible. He singled out the woman who 
gave her two mites, less than one cent, 
and made her an example of generosity, 
because she gave all she had. 

To be a Christian is to be like Christ. 
And we know how that He, though He 
was rich, yet for our sakes became poor. 
He ow^ned no house and no land. He 
had no place to lay His head. He gave 
Himself, His all for as. To lay a gift on 
His altar is to become like Him. The 
Bible tells us that if we withhold from 
Him His due we rob God. We have re- 
ceived so many blessings from the Church 
from the day of our birth that we ought 
to count it one of our highest joys to con- 
tribute to her support. 

One of our first duties as Christians is 
to give. We should begin early in life; 
if we do not, the habit will be hard to 
form. If we have an income of our own, 
we should set aside a certain portion of 
it for the Lord's work and not touch it for 



46 



any other purpose. As our income in- A 
creases our gifts should increase. The FUL 
grace of giving can be made to grow up GIVER 
in us like any other grace. 

God's word is full of promises of bless- 
ing to the generous person. "It is more 
blessed to give than to receive." "The 
liberal soul shall be made fat." "Give 
and it shall be given unto you." Let us 
be honest with God. Our religion is worth 
what it costs us. Giving is one of God's 
choice words. 

47 



N 



O sweeter words ever fell from our XII 
Saviour's lips. They were intended LO, 



not only for the twelve who heard them, „„„ 

J WITH 

but for believers in all ages. They have YOU 
a strength and assurance about them that 
our hearts need. 

He is with us in our joys. Some people 
seem to have the impression that a Chris- 
tian should never be happy; but they are 
mistaken. Christ said to His disciples that 
He wanted His joy to be in them and 
their joy to be full. He Himself was a 
joyous man; yes, the most joyous the 
world ever saw. In His presence is full- 
ness of joy. He does not leave us disap- 
provingly when we are happy. He re- 
joices in our happiness and increases it. 

He is with us in our work. He Himself 
was a laboring man. He lay down at 
night, more times than one, weary and 
worn. His body was covered with the 
sweat and dust of toil. How He loved 
the working man! He called twelve of 



49 



UPON them to be His apostles. When He had 

THIS 

ROCK an y tas k to ^ e done He put it on the shoul- 
ders of the person who was already busily 
engaged. He blesses the toiler with His 
own presence. 

Then we have our temptations. Prince 
and peasant, rich and poor, young and old 
are tempted. We are tempted to be 
selfish, dishonest, ill-tempered, covetous, 
idle, unkind, intemperate and uncharita- 
ble. How we need His presence then! 
We may be rich or popular without His 
special help, but we can never hope to 
overcome temptation and be more than 
conquerors unless we have Him with us. 
He was tempted in all points as we are 
and is able to help us when we are as- 
sailed. 

And how about our sorrows? Is He 
near when we go down into the dark val- 
ley? The Bible seems especially written 
for those who have griefs to bear. He is 
able to turn our tears of sorrow into rivers 



50 



of joy. If we abide in Him even the night LO, 
of grief and despair shall be light about 



I AM 
WITH 



us. Those that mourn and are heavy- YOU 
hearted have a refuge in Him. 

So, wherever duty calls, we may go with- 
out fear. We have secret sources of 
strength that the world is ignorant of. 
We are never alone, for the divine pres- 
ence goes with us. He has taken up His 
abode with us, so that He is closer than 
hands and feet and nearer than breath- 
ing. Like Enoch of old, we may walk 
with the Lord, keeping our hearts pure 
and our faces turned toward the city that 
hath foundations, whose builder and 
maker is God. 

51 



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